Travelling
by air in Australia-
if you have a very limited time to visit
Australia and wish to see for example Sydney,
Cairns or Ayers Rock in the same trip it would be
the best option. The country
is huge and distances by road are going to demand
many extra days depending where you want to go. I
am pretty much sure that who invented the airplane
wasn't the Americans, but an Australian beer
representative who was drinking all his product
before reach the destiny due the long hours he
spent on the road.

Think
about spending
12 to 14 hours in a train, bus, or car, just to
cover the distance from Sydney to Brisbane while
by plane you will take only 1 hour of fight time
?!. Also, the expenditure in fuel by road will
cost around A$ 120 while the plane can cost even
less if there is a promotional tariff going on.
This is only from Sydney to Brisbane, because if
you think Sydney Perth, instead of 1000 Km you
will suffer another 4000 Km on the road. Of course
those with time and wish to explore the fantastic
small towns and places along the way, the road is
the best choice. There is also a third alternative
which is travel in one direction by road and come
back by plane.

Anyway,
the good news is that from 4 years to now, many
new air carriers are playing in the market
offering promotions some times so cheap that I
spend more on taxi to the airport than on the air
leg itself. Budget companies and the competition
in domestic and some International fares went down
just like a cold VB beer in my throat. With those
Internet based fare (and sometimes even with a
travel agent) prices never been so low and I thing
the cost of the travel kilometre by car is the
same than the cost by air. (if not it is not far
away).

Qantas,
The national Australian air carrier
used to dominate domestic flights and still has a
strong presence in the market, including some
specials from time to time, but when Virgin Blue
entered the competition, even Qantas was forced to
create a new company called Jet Star to face
Virgin Blue. The result was a fierce battle where
the consumer became the winner.

Those
"Budget" companies operating in
Australia are
Internet based, meaning that you can buy tickets directly
online and print your Voucher to present ate the
airport. The budget sector don't have food or
drinks included in the price but they sell things
onboard for about the same price you will pay in a
lunch bar. Or, if you wish to bring your own
cooked Lobster and drink to have aboard, this is
up to you. In Australia as many countries in the world
smoking, is prohibited in airports and during the
flight. The main domestic airports in Australia
also receives International flights and have a
money exchange office inside, but last time we
were thinking about cash some bucks the rate was
so terrible that we gave up.

Some
other details
about Budget flights in Australia you must know is
that Jet Star don't do seats reservation meaning
if you are travelling in a group or with family,
you better get together first in line or you may
travel apart from each other. Another important
tip regarding long flights to Australia followed
by a internal connection is that long flights may
arrive little late due atmospheric conditions. As
soon as you arrive in Sydney for example, connecting
to Brisbane, you will have to do the customs and
Immigration at Sydney International Airport and
than catch a bus, taxi or train to the domestic
terminal. This can take a long time, and we have
knowledge of many people loosing the domestic leg.
Conclusion...better allow 3 hours between flights
or you may loose your ticket. For those travelling
with the same carrier this problem is minimised or
inexistent. To regional towns and villages, there
are some small companies operating small planes
that cover many places in Australia, but with a
price not so inviting. Don't forget that budget
carriers have a less weight luggage policy 20 Kg
instead of 30 or 35 for International flights.
Some companies waive the excess and some charge
around A$ 7 per extra kilo. I never was asked to
pay extra both in Virgin or Jet Star.